Russell Crowe has been slammed for joking about sodomising a co-star on the set of a film in the early 90s

But the Gladiator star’s joke received a frosty reception in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal that has rocked the film industry.

The 53-year-old appeared to chuckle to himself as he told the room: “I was sodomising Jacqueline McKenzie (female co-star) on the set of Romper Stomper. I didn’t actually intend to do that.

“I was trying to keep my bits away from her bits, and she’s been given one of those pieces of elastic that the girls get when you do those scenes, which protects them from all things, and my bits and pieces were in a little canvas sack with a drawstring.

The pair starred in the Aussie movie Romper Stomper, released in 1992, which charts the story of a neo-Nazi gang in suburban Melbourne

“Over the eons, he and I have often laughed at the awkwardness we felt shooting that scene.

“How we were trying to be as protective of our modesties as we could, as ‘sensitive’ to each other’s feelings as we could BUT when the director called ‘action’, the scripted action was violent and explicit.”

Russell Crowe said in a statement: “Actors and actresses by the nature of our jobs get thrown into some embarrassing, bizarre and extreme circumstances.

“It’s an ironic combination that the sensitivity required for the job has to be coupled with the ability to put aside your embarrassment and fears and cope with the humiliation.

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